How Mantras Work and Benefit Us?

Mantras are magic or sacred formulas (sound, syllable, word or sentence) from various schools of Hinduism and Buddhism, but there are mantras in other religions as well. Some mantras are from Vedic times and from times when no religions existed and they are many thousand years old. Mantras can be used during everyday activities as they calm the mind and they can help to focus. Mantras can be used for meditation and they can be combined with other spiritual techniques to accomplish certain practices. They can be applied for different healing techniques as well.

How Mantras Work?

Every matter, thought and emotions are made of energies that are in a state of constant vibration. They induce subtle vibrations that are affecting their surroundings. In ancient times, great teachers had an ability to sense these vibrations and they discovered mantras that are made induce vibrations which can energise the brain and they can awake some extraordinary qualities of the mind. Each mantra contains a specific set of vibrations, which are usually built from smaller energy blocks (syllables). They are perfectly designed (energetically, mathematically, etc.) for the benefit of all living beings and they are tuned to the vibration they represent.

How Mantras Affect Us?

Mantras have a powerful impact on us in many ways. Some of these are the vibration effects of the sound, mental and physical intention of the person and the effect of the collective emotional energy behind each word due to continuous repetition over time. Saying any word has a physical vibration as well. The power of speech has an ability to create.

Each word we know has an emotional reaction on us because we are conditioned by our experiences connected to each word. Collective emotions that people have towards each word also affect us.

For example, when a positive word (i.e. love) is spoken deliberately, it awakes an emotional energy change. Mantras are usually made in some ancient languages (i.e. Sanskrit) and these words are repeated billions of times over centuries, so they have a huge energy impact on us.

Sacred numbers, such as 21 or 108 have definite meaning and effect, so it is often recommended to follow certain sacred numbers when you are counting your repetition.

To unlock the full potential of a mantra a guru (or a teacher) is needed to get empowerment or initiation, but it is not necessary.

Symbols

Mantras can be represented pictorially as symbols. These symbols are also very powerful and they represent the visual energy of the vibration of the mantra. Syllables may have different colours. As colours have different spectrums, these frequencies also add to the function and to the purpose of mantra.

Meaning of Mantras

Some mantras have a meaning, some not. If a mantra has a meaning, then it is good to know the meaning of some words, but it is not necessary. A mechanical repetition exposes us to the benefits of the mantra too. Also, during our practice, we may have feelings and intuitions that can help us associate some of the meanings.

Benefits of Mantras

Mantras affect us physically, mentally and emotionally as well. They can reprogramme cells to restore their harmonious health. Also, they positively affect our aura and they energise our prana. Mantras can help us bring more positive energy, compassion, health and well-being into our life.

We can feel some of the benefits of a mantra as well and it is not so important to be familiar with all benefits of a mantra. For example, the mantra of Avalokiteshvara (Om Mani Padme Hum) will develop a connection with the compassion of Avalokiteshvara, even without knowing the meaning of the mantra.

---

Read more about mantras:
Mantras From The Western Perspective
Description and Benefits of Tibetan Mantras